Borrego Springs, CA: Night Sky Photography with Dennis Mammana, Selfies with the Sculptures, June 2014
NAMM Convention January 2013, Anaheim, CA
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Showing the celestial movements of the stars in this long exposure star trails photograph. I'm going to point out two things that are "wrong". One is that I meant to have each of the 16 individual photos longer than 20 seconds. I forgot to change the settings after photographing the stars as relative pin points of light. This isn't the first time I've done this, and unfortunately, it probably won't be the last. The second "wrong" thing? Some of you may notice that the star trails are rotating the wrong way. I did them the "right" way, rotating counter-clockwise. I didn't like the way it looked aesthetically, so I reversed them. That's the way it goes sometimes: art triumphs over truth. And that really bright thing in the lower right part of the sky? That is our glorious satellite, the moon, yes it is. |
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African Elephant Surveys The Milky WayAstronomer Dennis Mammana and I shot some night sky photos of Ricardo Breceda's amazing metal dinosaur sculptures on 16 June 2014. The following night, I went out again, this time, picking an area that was not so windy, probably something we should have done the night before. The African elephant sculptures are located in the northern part of Borrego Springs, and I have not photographed these particular ones before. I hit this with a bit of light painting from my head lamp, just to make the image pop, although I did take some silhouettes as well. But I think I like this light painted one better. Title: African Elephant Surveys the Milky Way Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm, 20 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 2014-06-18 12:35 am. Location: Borrego Springs, CA USA Título: Elefante africano Encuestas de la Vía Láctea Foto: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED en 14 mm, La escultura del elefante fue creado por Ricardo Breceda. 20 segundos, f/2.8, ISO 4000, 2014-06-18 12:35 a.m. Ubicación: Borrego Springs, CA, EE.UU. Equipment: Nikon D610, Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8 lens, Feisol tripod. |
 I wanted to create this vortex around the dragon's head with the stars. I left the camera clicking away for 50 minutes to create this effect with the stars. All color work was done during the exposure, and is not a Photoshop creation.The dragon sculpture was created by Ricardo Breceda. The dragon is 350 feet (106 meters) in length. I shot photos with noted astronomer Dennis Mammana the night before. There was some wind in the south part of Borrego Springs. The next day, after having dinner with him, I decided to try the north part, which seems to be often less windy. Title: Rattledragon Portal Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm, 50 minutes total exposure. I stacked 100 photos of 30 seconds each at f/3.5, ISO 1000 using StarStax. Processing in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Viveza. 2014-06-18 02:10. Light painted with an LED flashlight with a red gel. All color work was done during the exposure, and is not a Photoshop creation. Location: Borrego Springs, CA USA ~~~~ Quería crear este vórtice alrededor de la cabeza del dragón con las estrellas. Salí de la cámara al hacer clic de distancia durante 50 minutos para crear este efecto con las estrellas. Todo el trabajo de color se hizo durante la exposición, y no es una creación de Photoshop. La escultura del dragón fue creado por Ricardo Breceda. Está a 350 feet (106 m) de largo. Me tiro fotos con el astrónomo señaló Dennis Mammana la noche anterior. Había un poco de viento en la parte sur de Borrego Springs. Al día siguiente, después de cenar con él, me decidí a probar la parte norte, que parece ser a menudo menos viento. Título: Rattledragon Portal Foto: Ken Lee Fotografía Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f / 2.8G ED lente a 14 mm, 50 minutos de exposición total. Apilé 100 fotos de 30 segundos cada uno en f/3.5, ISO 1000 usando StarStaX. Procesamiento en Photoshop CS4 con Nik Viveza. 18/06/2014 02:10. Pintura de luz con una linterna LED con un gel rojo. Todo el trabajo de color se hizo durante la exposición, y no es una creación de Photoshop. Ubicación: Borrego Springs, CA, EE.UU. #startrails #estrellas #stars #kenlee #dragon #moon #borregosprings #nikon #lightpainting #longexposure #astrophotography #desert #nature #ricardobreceda #dennismammana #nightsky #nightskyphotography #moon #luna #pintadodeluz #largaexposicion |
 The sculpture of the father was created by Ricardo Breceda. The camera is facing more or less to the west.Title: El Padre y La Lluvia de Estrellas (1527) Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm, 50 minutes total exposure. I stacked 100 photos of 30 seconds each at f/3.5, ISO 2000 using StarStax. Processing in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Viveza. 2014-06-17 23:47. Light painted with an LED flashlight with a red gel. All color work was done during the exposure, and is not a Photoshop creation. Location: Borrego Springs, CA USA ~~~~ La escultura del padre fue creado por Ricardo Breceda. La cámara se enfrenta a más o menos hacia el oeste. Título: El Padre y La Lluvia de Estrellas Foto: Ken Lee Fotografía Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f / 2.8G ED lente a 14 mm, 50 minutos de exposición total. Apilé 100 fotos de 30 segundos cada uno en f/3.5, ISO 2000 usando StarStax. Procesamiento en Photoshop CS4 con Nik Viveza. 2014-06-17 23:47. Luz pintado con una linterna LED con un gel rojo. Todo el trabajo de color se hizo durante la exposición, y no es una creación de Photoshop. Ubicación: Borrego Springs, CA, EE.UU. #startrails #estrellas #stars #kenlee #father #moon #borregosprings #nikon #lightpainting #longexposure #astrophotography #desert #nature #ricardobreceda #dennismammana #nightsky #nightskyphotography #pintadodeluz #largaexposicion |
 The sculpture of the elephant was created by Ricardo Breceda. The camera is facing more or less to the south.Title: Babar Begins His Lonely Luna Trek (1595) Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm, 37 minutes total exposure. I stacked 74 photos of 30 seconds each at f/3.5, ISO 2000 using StarStax. Processing in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Viveza. 2014-06-18 00:54. Light painted with an LED flashlight. Location: Borrego Springs, CA USA ~~~~~ La escultura del elefante fue creado por Ricardo Breceda. La cámara se enfrenta a más o menos hacia el sur. Título: Babar Begins His Lonely Luna Trek (Babar comienza su solitaria Luna Excursión) (1595) Foto: Ken Lee Fotografía Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lente a 14 mm, 37 minutos de exposición total. Apilé 74 fotos de 30 segundos cada uno en f/3.5, ISO 2000 usando StarStax. Procesamiento en Photoshop CS4 con Nik Viveza. 2014-06-18 00:54. Pintura de luz con una linterna LED. Ubicación: Borrego Springs, CA, EE.UU. #startrails #estrellas #stars #kenlee #elephant #moon #borregosprings #nikon #lightpainting #longexposure #astrophotography #desert #nature #ricardobreceda #dennismammana #nightsky #nightskyphotography #pintadodeluz #largaexposicion |
 On a very windy night, Dennis Mammana and I headed out to photograph the amazing metal sculptures created by Ricardo Breceda. The 88% moon had just risen from the east when this photo was taken, with the stars and Milky Way immediately growing fainter. I light painted the dinosaurs a bit later when the moon was higher, but let this one go to silhouette.I processed this on a borrowed Macbook, but had a lot of problems seeing the screen and having Photoshop crash, so I don't feel totally sure about how this actually looks. Photo: Ken Lee Photography Info: Nikon D610, AF-S Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens at 14mm, 15 seconds, f/2.8, ISO 4000. Processing in Photoshop CS4 with Nik Viveza. 11:13 pm 2014-06-16. Location: Borrego Springs, CA USA |
 And now, a bunch of selfies taken during the day in Borrego Springs, CA, during a rather windy day. I brought along a few of my twins to make the shoot a little more fun. And we started the proceedings with Chicago Bears shirts. |
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Ken's photos of Nobel Peace Prize Winner Aung
San Suu Kyi, as well as photos of Peru, Burma, India, Morocco, China, Thailand,
Ghana, Ecuador, and elsewhere, have appeared in many books, magazines,
websites, and galleries. Visit the
Ken Lee Photography Website. Some of Ken's select photos may be
purchased through his
Imagekind Store. Join the fun and participation on Ken's Facebook Page. |
NAMMbulating, January 2013
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Eleven Shadows Travel Page
Contact photographer/musician Ken Lee
It was near the beginning of summer 2014. I had just returned from West Virginia, and began a summer of night sky photography in the deserts of California, Utah, and Nevada. And there are few better places to start in this region than Borrego Springs, home to the sculptures of Ricardo Breceda, and home of noted astronomer and night sky photographer Dennis Mammana. I contacted him, and we had dinner at Carly's, and then went to the south part of Borrego Springs to shoot. Unfortunately, it was absurdly windy there, and the sculptures were swaying quite a bit, creating blurred images. We had dinner a second night, but he wanted to get ready for a trip to Arizona, and did not shoot the second night with me.
"Atomic Breath"
